Backswing, Contact, Admire
by dwparsnip
Summary: Sheppard thought he was going to have a nice relaxing evening. He should have known better when Rodney and Ronon asked him if he wanted to have a drink with them.


Okay….the usual legalities. I do not own the rights to 'Stargate:Atlantis' or any of its characters. MGM does.

Some notes: 1) This fic assumes that Teyla and her unborn child are rescued, and takes place shortly after that rescue. 2) I assume that Melena, Ronon's lady introduced in 'Sateda', is a nurse. It was either nurse or doctor, and after studying the episode I went with nurse. 3) Captain Alicia Vega is a character currently scheduled to begin appearing on Atlantis in the season five premier. I don't know anything about her…I'm making assumptions and inserting my own thing for this fic.

A million thanks to Watcher.mine who took the time and great effort to beta this for me, and gave me the title…I could not think of anything. Your suggestions and comments were so much more than helpful.

There are references for 'Trio' and 'The Kindred', as well as conjecture on my part based on announced information, i.e. Alicia Vega.

Any and all comments are appreciated.

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Sheppard looked down at the target and narrowed his eyes in a mixture of concentration and determination. Out of habit his fingers flexed, relaxing and then tightening their grip on his weapon of choice.

One deep breath.

Then another.

And one more for good luck.

Without taking his eyes off his target, he brought his personal weapon back in a motion that was as familiar as anything to him. When the weapon reached its zenith he brought it back down along the same path with all the energy he could muster.

He didn't smile when the weapon hit its target with that resounding and satisfying ping. Instead he turned with the momentum he had generated and looked out to the ocean.

Only when the golf ball he'd just obliterated hit the water with a healthy splash around two hundred and eighty yards out did he smile. He relaxed and let the driver fall the extra inch or two to rest on his shoulder.

Driving golf balls off the balcony had always been a helpful stress release exercise for him, and God knew he needed to release a lot of stress these days.

So much so that the golf ball supply had been catching hell, in fact. He sighed, and then used the driver as a crutch as he bent over and reached into the small bucket of balls that sat near his feet. Ball in hand, he reached over and carefully placed the white sphere on the tee and stood up straight again.

He turned his head so that he could once again gaze upon the blue water that surrounded the city. For the first time in a long time, there was little to do in the lines of actual work…. Except paper work, of course, but he never did and never would consider that real anything.

Their sole reason for gate travel over the last while- finding and rescuing Teyla- had been taken care of when they grabbed Teyla and her unborn child from Michael's gruesome clutches, and it was agreed by all that they deserved a long overdue rest.

So he didn't complain when his team was relieved of off-world duty and given leave, though Rodney insisted on working in his lab.

Of course, it wasn't work that had brought about his current need to punish as many golf balls as he could.

It was personal.

More or less.

He hadn't really had time to consider the problem until Teyla had been found, but it had been in the back of his mind ever since he stepped through the gate about seven hundred years older (it still made him laugh to think about it, even more so when Rodney tried to determine exactly how much time he'd spent in stasis).

While he had been specific in the information he put in his report to his superiors and the story he'd told his friends, he had omitted certain details and perhaps even skewed the truth a little. Would that be specific omittance and selective lying?

Yes, but it didn't matter. There was no need for Sam to know that in the screwed up and hopefully nullified timeline he found himself in she died alone on her ship after being caught in an ambush; no need for Teyla to know that she gave birth to her baby and was then killed by Michael; and no need for Ronon to know he died in what turned into a suicide mission.

There was certainly no need for Rodney to know that he found the love of a good woman only to feel it cruelly slip through his fingers. And that was why he did mention, highlight and underline in his report the deadly side effects of exposure to the Hoffan drug.

He grunted in amusement at Rodney's reaction to the story. He'd told Rodney that his future self did what he did because he felt responsible for his disappearance in the first place, not that everyone, and Jennifer in particular, had died horribly and unnecessarily. To keep in character with the little white lie, he occasionally ribbed Rodney about going through so much to save him, which naturally caused Rodney to curse and declare out loud that he would never understand why his future self saved him in the first place, let alone go through so much trouble to do so. The bald jokes didn't help either, he supposed.

Sheppard shook his head as he turned back to the ball waiting patiently and silently on the tee. He set his feet and addressed the ball, his fingers once again going through the ritual of loosening and tightening around the grip of the club.

One deep breath.

Then another.

And one more for good luck.

Backswing.

Swing.

Contact.

And admire.

Once he saw the telltale splash of the ball in the calm blue water, Sheppard relaxed again.

He didn't know what to do- or if he should do anything for that matter. He knew that Ronon and Keller had been attracted to each other but little came of it as far as he knew, though he had to admit to himself that he knew very little about their situation. (It wasn't like he kept tabs on the love lives of his team, as was evidenced by his shock when Teyla told him she was pregnant.) He also knew that Keller had asked Rodney out for a drink after the mine thing. What did that mean?

He never figured Keller for the two timing, multiple relationship type; she was simply too nice to do it. Could that mean that nothing came of her and Ronon?

Sheppard shook his head and reached for another ball. After placing it in the same position as its predecessor he went through the exact same routine again until the unfortunate ball plunked into the water, never to be seen again.

Keeping his club in his hand, Sheppard walked slowly out to the end of the balcony and leaned against the left edge of the opening. This water was a different shade of green-blue than he had become used to on Atlantis' previous home. Not that it was bad, just different. The air smelled different too. The sea air of their last planet smelled more like the Pacific than the ocean breezes of this planet. Again, not bad, just different.

"I need a drink," he declared to the ocean.

"So do we," replied a deep voice from behind him.

Sheppard didn't quite jump in surprise, but he did start a little. He turned around and saw Ronon looking at him with an amused smirk on his face, and Rodney looking at him as though he had lost his mind.

Rodney crossed his arms across his chest and glanced at Ronon before turning back to Sheppard and saying, "Talking to yourself, Sheppard? They say that's a sign of madness."

"Or intelligence," Sheppard shot back, earning a small smile from Ronon and a grunt of doubt from Rodney. "What are you guys up to?"

"Looking for you," replied Ronon.

"We wanted to see if you wanted to have a drink," elaborated Rodney. "You've already answered that question, so the next question is do you want to have one with us or not?"

Sheppard looked at the two men standing just inside the doorway and nodded. They were his friends, his brothers even. He would do anything for them, and they would do anything for him…hadn't they all proved it many times over the past few years?

He smiled and walked over to his golf bag, carefully placed his club inside and looked up to the two men regarding him expectantly. "Absolutely."

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Sheppard sat down in the large overstuffed couch with a sigh. It was the same couch he always sat in for their movie nights, with a perfectly unobstructed view of the wide screen television and a place on the arm to rest his beverage of choice.

There was only one thing missing, of course.

Teyla, the indomitable spirit and dutiful leader she was, insisted on spending the majority of her time with the surviving Athosians and helping them find a new home. She had even attempted to go off-world a couple of times to scout locations for a new settlement, but decided against it when he, Ronon and Rodney insisted that they and three other heavily armed teams go wherever she went.

There should have been a medal for those who dared to irritate a pregnant Athosian woman.

She was with the Athosians now in the lower levels of Atlantis, participating in some sort of renewal ceremony that he didn't really understand. She asked if he wanted to attend, but he had the feeling that it was more of a spiritual thing than he'd be comfortable with so he politely declined.

"Where did you get this anyway?" asked Sheppard as he held his glass up to the light to further study the amber colored liquid.

"One of my longtime underlings, Atkinson, decided that he'd been here long enough without having an unauthorized yet surprisingly effective still in operation," replied Rodney from the other end of the couch as he fluffed the cushion he was using for the fourth time. "Said something about his great-great-great grandfather pioneering the moonshine business somewhere." He placed the cushion with exaggerated care behind him and leaned back onto it, releasing a soft yet unmistakable sigh of contentment as he did so.

Sheppard smiled and lifted the glass to his lips, hesitating for only a second before taking a sip…and immediately wished he could take a gulp of just about anything else to quench the trail of flame the liquid was blazing along his digestive tract.

He leaned forward and coughed to try to ease the burn, and when he looked up a moment later through the sheen of water that was in his eyes he could see Rodney looking at him with concern and Ronon grinning at him in amusement.

"I'm okay," he croaked hoarsely. Another cough. "Careful…it has a kick."

"Yes, well, we didn't exactly submit it to the Infirmary for testing and quality control," quipped Rodney, his concern apparently abated. He was just about to put his feet up on a nearby table when his comm. unit spoke in his ear.

"_Zelenka to McKay."_

Rodney heaved a sigh so deep that the city's sensor's had to register an atmospheric disturbance in the room and activated his comm. "What!" he barked.

There was a hesitation on the other end before Zelenka's accented voice filtered through again. _"The power conduit is acting up again. Readings indicated imminent overload if it wasn't shut down."_

Rodney rolled his eyes and said sharply, "I told you I'm taking the evening off. Deal with it."

Zelenka's voice held a twinge of humor in it when he responded. _"I did deal with it and shut it down, but it needs to be repaired to power the sensors covering the north and east piers."_

Rodney couldn't keep the irritation out of his voice. "So?"

"_You told us never to touch that conduit, Rodney,"_ replied the Czech. _"You were quite specific about telling us that you and only you were to be the only one to ever touch it."_

"Right," groaned Rodney as he recalled that brief yet loud and animated conversation. "I'll be there in a minute," he said and then reached up to tap the earpiece to end the conversation. He stood up and pointed back and forth between Sheppard on the couch and Ronon, who sat in a large armchair across from it. "I'll be back in half an hour."

He rushed out of the room before either Ronon or Sheppard could say anything, so they didn't bother to say anything at all.

Sheppard hesitantly raised the glass back to his lips and took another sip, extremely thankful that after the initial shock of the first gulp he seemed to be more tolerant of it, even if it was only minutely so.

It still burned a little though, which was why he did a double take when he looked over to see Ronon down his drink in one gulp and then reach over to fill his glass up again.

Ronon noticed Sheppard's look of disbelief and shrugged his shoulders. "I've had worse."

Sheppard nodded in understanding and lifted his weary feet up onto the table as Rodney had intended to do earlier. _I could get used to this,_ he thought as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

Everyone was safe and sound, no one was shooting at them, no one was missing and everything was quiet. Oh yes, he could certainly get used to it. If only Elizabeth…

His head snapped downward to look at Ronon, who had just finished off his second glass of shine. Thinking of Elizabeth reminded him of the dilemma he'd been thinking about earlier.

He took a generous slug of his shine as a courage builder and screwed up his face as the drink made its way downward. "Ronon," he said after he could trust himself to speak, his voice sandpaper rough. "Mind if I ask you a question?"

Ronon filled his glass again and looked to Sheppard. "What?"

Sheppard looked down to the glass in his hand and then to Ronon. "Anything going on between you and Keller?"

Ronon's eyes narrowed and he sat up straighter in his chair.

_Shit, _thought Sheppard. _He's going to…_

"No," interrupted Ronon's succinct response. "Nothing."

Sheppard's brow wrinkled in confusion. "I thought you two…"

"No," said Ronon, accompanied by a shake of his head, which in turn was followed by another healthy gulp of shine.

"Why?" blurted Sheppard before he could even think about stopping himself. He held up his hand and said, "Never mind." He lowered his hand to his lap and added quickly, "It's none of my business."

Ronon nodded and finished off his third drink, then reached over once again for a refill.

Sheppard, still nursing his first, looked up to a point on the wall above the big Satedan's head and sighed. What the hell was he thinking asking Ronon about his personal life?

He was about to ask Ronon a question about the training program for the new Marines in an attempt to change the subject when the big man said, "She reminds me of Melena."

Sheppard nearly choked, though it had nothing to do with the potent liquid he'd been sipping. He never really had any trouble talking to Ronon per se, but up to now their conversations never centered that much on his past, at least not his _personal_ past.

Ronon leaned forward in the chair and rested his elbows on his knees, holding his glass in his hands in front of him. "Melena was everything I needed in a woman." His eyes lost focus as he remembered days long ago, days when the Wraith hadn't yet attacked Sateda and life was simpler. "She was a nurse in the biggest hospital in the capital," he said softly, "a good nurse." He swallowed the liquid in his glass and reached for the bottle again. "She was a good nurse because she was great with people."

As he refilled his glass Sheppard thought to himself, _We may end up needing a direct pipeline to the still if he keeps at it like that._

Ronon tipped the bottle over and poured the clear liquid into his glass until it approached the brim, then placed the bottle back on the table. He resumed his previous position and looked to Sheppard. "I knew she was special the minute we met."

"How did you meet?" asked Sheppard, encouraged into his advanced questioning by Ronon's unusual openness.

Ronon smirked and took swallow of his drink. "I was injured during a training exercise and my squad brought me to the hospital instead of taking me to the unit's medical officer."

Sheppard understood immediately. That could only have meant "unauthorized training exercise".

Ronon saw the comprehension in Sheppard's eyes and nodded to confirm it. "The guys were giving me a hard time because I complained once about the broken arm I had, so I told them to go to hell. That was when she barged in through the door." Ronon smiled a little as he recalled the event that meant so much to him. "The top of her head only just reached up to my chin, but she came at me like she was my equal in every way and told me to shut up because there were other patients around. I don't know what made me listen to her, her voice or her eyes maybe, but I did." Ronon emptied his glass and filled it again immediately. "I asked if I could see her again before I left and she said no, but I didn't stop asking her until she agreed. She was beautiful, kind and caring. She brought light into my life when all I thought I was good for was killing."

He took another jolt and after using the back of his right hand to wipe his mouth he said, "And she was stubborn as hell and never put up with any crap from me or anyone," he said with a glint in his eye. He took a deep breath and a sort of solemnity settled over him. "And she was the bravest woman I've ever met." His eyes bored into Sheppard's in an attempt to convey just how much he thought about her. "She stood there as the world was coming to an end and told me she couldn't go, that people needed her." Ronon leaned back and his eyes closed. "I loved her."

Sheppard sat there, amazed and truth be told a little uneasy over the fact that Ronon was sitting across from him talking about something so personal. He'd known of Melena, of course, but not much more than her name, that she was a nurse, and that she died.

"Jennifer is a lot like her," Ronon said, bringing Sheppard's attention back to him. "She's kind-hearted and good with people, and would do anything for them, but at the same time I wouldn't want to piss her off."

Ronon stopped and Sheppard studied him for a moment. The big man looked tired all of a sudden, which was more than a little odd considering that he had seen Ronon carry Rodney on his back for miles without breaking a sweat. Yet here he was now looking as exhausted as he'd ever seen him. Must have been the drink…it did have a kick.

"So what's the problem?" asked Sheppard, once more cursing his mouth for opening before thinking about it. On the other hand, now that the cat was out of the bag so to speak. "If they're so alike then why not…"

"Because she is so much like Melena!" interrupted Ronon loudly. He drained his glass again and took the bottle once more into his hands. "No one can replace her, not even Jennifer. And I don't want to replace her." He poured himself another drink, and then held up the bottle in the space between them. "Either I'm drunk or this bottle is empty." He looked at Sheppard and asked, "Which is it?"

"Empty," replied Sheppard, though he was pretty sure Ronon was getting pretty close to drunk.

"Damn," said Ronon, and with that he tossed the now useless bottle onto the table, not caring one way or the other if it broke or not.

It didn't.

Sheppard watched Ronon lean back into the chair again and look at the empty bottle on the table. "That's not right, Ronon," he said. "They're different people, even if they are similar, and if you're attracted to Keller don't you owe it to her and yourself to see what happens?"

Ronon shook his head again. "We did get together a few times," he said. "Didn't know that did you?" When Sheppard shook his head Ronon nodded, inexplicably proud that Sheppard hadn't known. "It didn't take long for me to see that I liked her because she reminded me of Melena. I think I even called her Melena once. I'm pretty sure she heard me too; probably one of the reasons she agreed so easily when I told her we should just…you know. She almost seemed relieved."

"But still…she's your type, right? She's smart, kind and all of that stuff. Can't you…I don't know, get past it somehow?" Sheppard didn't know why he was pushing it so hard, especially if it was possible that Rodney and Keller could be an item.

Ronon sat eerily still for a moment. "She **was** my type," he said with a sudden shake of his head that sent his dreads flying in all directions. "A lot changed while I was a runner, Sheppard…_I_ changed. A lot." Ronon took a more modest gulp of his drink and balanced the half-full glass on his right knee. "I don't even know what my type anymore, but I know it's not Mele…I mean Jennifer." Ronon took a deep breath, pointed his finger unsteadily at Sheppard and said, "See? I almost called her Melena again."

"I still don't think…"

"I think Alicia is more my type now," said Ronon with a confident nod.

"Captain Vega?" asked Sheppard, the higher-than-normal pitch of his voice betraying his surprise.

"Yeah," said Ronon. He downed the last of his drink and tossed the empty glass to Sheppard, who just managed to catch it. He crossed his massive arms across his chest and said, "She's hot and she can almost kick **my** ass. I like that."

"I'm pretty sure she can kick mine," muttered Sheppard before placing Ronon's discarded glass on the table and then taking a sip of his own drink. After shaking off the aftertaste he looked over to Ronon and laughed.

The big man was nodding off. Every time his head fell forward he would wake for a second, only to repeat the pattern.

"Ronon!" called Sheppard, and when Ronon looked at him he said, "Maybe we should get you home to sleep it off."

"Good idea," slurred Ronon before leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

Sheppard started to get up, but abandoned the effort when the soft sounds of a snoring Satedan reached his ears. He looked over and chuckled again at the sight of Ronon, head tilted back and mouth slightly open, apparently out cold.

"I'll be damned," said Sheppard as he leaned back onto the couch. "If I'd known getting you soused on moonshine would get you to open up so much I would have gotten McKay to build a still ages ago."

"Build a what ages ago?" asked McKay as he strolled through the door. He stopped when he saw the empty bottle on the table and threw Sheppard an irritated glance.

Sheppard held up his hands to head off the tirade that he was sure was about to come and pointed to Ronon. McKay turned to Ronon and groaned.

"I was only gone for forty minutes!" exclaimed McKay as he threw his arms in the air for dramatic emphasis.

Sheppard nodded and held up his mostly full glass for McKay to see. "I told you it has a bit of a kick."

Rodney's shoulders sagged and he moved to sit down on the couch. "Well I guess so."

"We should take him home," said Sheppard just as Rodney was about to sit down.

"Oh come on!" cried Rodney loud enough to wake the dead, though apparently not loud enough to wake Ronon. "In case you haven't noticed he's over two hundred pounds," he motioned to Ronon with his hand. "Not to mention he's dead weight in his current condition."

Sheppard gave Rodney a look of mild disapproval. "Come on, Rodney," he said as he struggled to get up off the couch. "He's carried your ass around more than once." He stood up and was surprised not to find the room spinning around. In fact, he felt quite well. He motioned to Ronon with his head and said, "Come on."

Rodney tsked in annoyance and defeat and moved slowly towards Ronon. When Sheppard joined him they both waited, Rodney looking back and forth between Ronon and Sheppard, while Sheppard looked back and forth between Ronon and McKay. Finally the scientist spoke.

"I think he's fine here," said McKay, and he started walking towards the door, only to be stopped by Sheppard's hand grasping his arm.

"Hook your arm under his right arm and I'll take the left," said Sheppard in a tone that told Rodney he wouldn't accept anything but a positive response from him. As Rodney stepped grudgingly beside Ronon and reached down to do as he was told, Sheppard looked at him and said, "We'll lift on the count of three and step into him to hold him up. Once we're there, we can put his arms across our shoulders and lift him along."

Rodney mumbled something under his breath, causing Sheppard to ask, "What was that, Rodney?"

Rodney cleared his throat and said, "Ready when you are."

Sheppard smirked as he said, "That's what I thought you said." He set his feet on the floor and reached down and hooked his arm underneath Ronon's armpit. "All right, on three. One…two…three!"

The two men lifted upwards, and though Rodney grunted, groaned and complained loudly, he didn't falter and managed to help get Ronon up out of the chair. When they got Ronon upright, both men slipped underneath Ronon's arms, pushing their bodies upwards so that Ronon's arms lay across their shoulders. Rodney reached up to grab Ronon's right hand as Sheppard reached up to grab the other one so that his arms wouldn't slip downwards, making them lose their hold on the bigger man.

"Now…what…Colonel?" asked Rodney between pants for air.

Sheppard reached over with his free hand to grab the top edge of Ronon's pants for some added purchase. "Now we move."

They struggled through the rec room door and nearly stumbled as they turned to the right to head to Ronon's quarters which, fortunately, were on the same level not that far away from the rec room.

They were about halfway there when a concerned-looking Lorne and a couple of Marines rushed up to them.

"Can we give you a hand, sir?" asked Lorne, ready to reach in and take some of the weight from Rodney.

"No," grated Rodney between clenched teeth. "Just get out of the way."

Lorne and the Marines stepped aside- with a mixture of surprise and respect etched across their faces, Sheppard noted- and he and Rodney began again for Ronon's quarters, which were now only fifteen feet away from them.

"Rodney," said Sheppard knowingly, "why didn't we want Lorne to help?"

He waited for an answer, though he didn't get one until they reached the door and Rodney leaned against the wall next to the door's sensor.

"He's **our** teammate," Rodney said, a little out of breath. "We're supposed to take care of our own, right?"

Sheppard smiled as he passed his hand over the sensor and the door slid open, revealing Ronon's spartanly decorated and darkened room. "That we are. Let's go."

Both men took a deep breath and maneuvered through the doorway with Sheppard in the lead. Rodney nearly tripped when his foot caught against the doorframe, but he managed to keep upright and maintain his hold on Ronon.

They edged their way to the foot of the bed where both men misjudged just how close they were to it. John and Rodney assumed they still had another foot to go and stepped forward to cover that distance. In reality- the painful reality as it turned out- they only had about six inches to cover.

The resounding thud of John's right foot, Rodney's left foot and both of Ronon's legs hitting the footboard of the bed went unheard under the scream of pain from Rodney and the curse yelled out by Sheppard as the three men fell forward onto the bed.

If that had been the end of it, John and Rodney might have been relatively content, but them being content was apparently not in the universe's ultimate plan for them.

While Ronon fell forward and ended up in a perfect face down sleeping position on the bed with his head slightly turned to the right, neither Rodney nor John had enough space left on the single bed to lay on, meaning both men ended up bouncing off and falling face first onto the cold, hard floor.

John managed to get his arms down to slow down his rapid descent and ended up on the floor without damaging himself.

Rodney was not as lucky.

His free arm buckled underneath him, and while that wasn't painful or harmful in any way, his face impacting the floor definitely was.

He cried out as the stab of pain shot through his face, and to Sheppard's credit he was beside him almost instantly.

Sheppard rolled Rodney over and cursed for the second time in sixty seconds.

"Don't move!" ordered Sheppard as he stood up and ran to Ronon's bathroom. He returned a moment later with a white towel in his hand. Once he reached Rodney's side he leaned down and pressed the towel to Rodney's face, eliciting another yelp of pain from the scientist.

"Come on," said Sheppard as he grabbed Rodney by his arm and helped him up. "We've got to get you to the Infirmary."

"Whxb fboth rojnn?"

Sheppard looked at Rodney questioningly. "What?"

Rodney moved the towel away from his mouth, but was careful to keep it to his nose. "What about Ronon?"

Sheppard looked back to the slumbering form on the bed. "He's out cold," he said as he guided Rodney through the door, filing away the fact that Rodney was worried about Ronon even as he was injured for future use. "He'll be fine." He kept a steadying hand on Rodney as they headed for the Infirmary and he felt compelled to add, "But I don't know what the morning will bring."

They walked into the nearest transporter and after touching the appropriate place on the destination display, Sheppard looked over to see Rodney leaning against the wall.

"Come on, Rodney," encouraged Sheppard when the door opened. He reached over and turned Rodney so that he faced the door. "It's only twenty feet down the hall, Rodney."

Rodney nodded and stepped through the door. Sheppard stayed beside him, though he never bothered to help Rodney or hold onto him as he seemed to have his sea legs back. He couldn't tell if it was hurting really bad or not at all. Either way Rodney would usually complain, but he hadn't so much as grumbled about it, and that worried him.

He didn't have much time to think about it as they passed through the Infirmary entrance in short order. He reached out and stopped Rodney, keeping his hand on the other man's shoulder to keep him in that spot, and looked around the quiet Infirmary. He looked to the left and slowly panned to the right, finding what he was looking for at the two o'clock position.

"Hey, Doc!" he called out, and then quickly turned to check on Rodney who had gone as stiff as a two-by-four when he called out to Keller. He couldn't see much of Rodney's face because of the towel, but the little bit he could see would have most likely been the most telling anyway: his eyes. Up to now his eyes were clear and focused, despite what had to have been a pretty solid knock against the noggin. But as Sheppard studied Rodney now he seemed nervous and his eyes had lost their normal arrogance.

It was almost comical. And it never happened until he called out to Keller.

Sheppard turned back towards Keller to see her rushing towards them, concern etched across her features as she snapped on a pair of surgical gloves she grabbed from a cart along the way.

When she got to them she reached up and slowly edged the towel away from Rodney's face, and when she saw what was underneath her face contorted for a split second in what had to be surprise, worry and sympathy.

She gently pressed the towel back up to his face and put her hand on his back to prod him towards the nearest bed. "What happened?" she asked with a glance to Sheppard.

"Well, Ronon and Rodney and I were having a drink in the rec room," explained Sheppard as they neared the bed. When they reached the bed, Jennifer turned Rodney around and backed him up against the bed so that he ended up sitting on the edge. Sheppard stood back to allow Keller to get in closer to Rodney and went on. "Rodney got called away so Ronon and I…"

"Colonel," interrupted Keller. She stopped putting an absorbent pad underneath Rodney's chin to keep his clothes from getting any dirtier, and turned around and gave him a wry look as she added, "The short version please."

"Right." Sheppard cleared his throat. "He fell face first onto the floor in Ronon's room."

"Ouch," Jennifer said compassionately. She looked into Rodney's eyes and smiled. "Do it hurt anywhere else, Rodney?" When he carefully shook his head she asked, "You never hurt your arms, shoulders or anything else?"

"Unh-unh," came his muffled reply.

She retrieved a penlight from her right pants pocket and leaned in towards him. She carefully lifted the top lid of one eye and shined the light in his eye. She repeated the same procedure for the other eye and asked as she did so, "Any dizziness?"

There was a slight shake of his head as Sheppard said, "He was a little woozy at first, but he got better along the way here."

She nodded and then leaned down to get a closer look at the area of skin around the towel to check for swelling and other signs of trauma, but found none. "Okay…I'm going to move the towel out of the way so I can see what's going on." She looked up into his eyes again and smiled. "It's going to be okay, Rodney. You trust me right?"

Sheppard, still standing behind and off the side of Keller, raised his eyebrows at the question and nearly fell over when Rodney nodded.

Keller nodded back to him. "Here we go."

She gently peeled the bloody towel away from his face enough to see if the bleeding had stopped, and after seeing that it had she lifted the rest of the towel away from his face.

For Rodney's sake, Sheppard was careful not to wince or otherwise make any outward sign that his swollen and bloody nose looked terrible.

"Nancy!" Jennifer called out. When the nurse appeared by the bed she looked up and said, "I'm going to need a sterile cleaning kit and a malleable ice pack."

The nurse nodded and went to find the items as Jennifer turned her attention back to Rodney's injury.

"I don't think it's broken," she commented softly as though she were talking to herself. "I'll be able to see better once we get you cleaned up."

"Here you go, Doctor," said Nancy as she placed the cleaning kit and ice pack on the bed next to Rodney. "Do you need any help?"

Jennifer shook her head as she said, "No, thanks. I should be able to manage."

"I'll be at the desk if you need me," she said and turned away from the bed.

"Thank you, Nancy," said Jennifer as she opened the sterile water and poured some into the accompanying tub. She then opened a sterile gauze pad and dip it in the water, and after squeezing out the excess and looked at Rodney and said, "This may hurt a little." He looked at her miserably. "Ready?"

He nodded and closed his eyes when she put her left hand on the side of face to keep him still, and to his credit his flinch was minimal when she first pressed the gauze pad against his face. Stroke by gentle stroke she erased the blood away from his face, being extremely careful to press gently and slowly against the now puffy flesh so that she didn't cause him any more pain than absolutely necessary.

From his vantage point behind them, Sheppard couldn't ignore the hunch that Jennifer seemed to be more worried- no, not worried, more…_personally affected_- by Rodney's injured nose than she would have been months ago, or with someone else. Not that she wouldn't be concerned or worried if it had been someone else sitting on the bed, but for some reason she just seemed to be that little bit extra unnerved with Rodney.

Interesting.

She dropped the bloodstained pad onto the bed and leaned in closer. "Well, it doesn't look like it's broken," she repeated, her voice heavily laden with relief. "I'd still like to put the ice pack on it for a while to minimize the swelling." She removed the dirty gauze pad and what was left of the cleaning kit and placed it on the table next to the bed. "Okay," she said as she reached over and picked the ice pack up off the bed. "Lie back here and we'll put this on."

Rodney did as he was told, much to Sheppard's entertainment. He'd seen nurses and other doctors, Carson among them, who had to fight, beg and threaten Rodney to get him to as much as open his mouth to check his throat. But here he was, obediently acquiescing to Keller's every single instruction without so much as a pointed look.

The back of the bed was inclined enough so that Rodney was leaning back just enough to keep the ice pack on his nose but not enough to be lying down.

Jennifer squeezed and scrunched the ice pack to activate the coldness and looked at Rodney as she placed it in the proper position. "If it gets too cold, let me know and I'll put a cloth around it." She put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a gentle caress. "But it would be better if we left it like this for as long as you can tolerate it, okay? The more we keep the initial swelling down the better it will be."

Sheppard couldn't see what Rodney did to respond, but whatever it was Keller took it positively as she nodded and then turned to look at him, and when her gaze locked onto his it was the polar opposite of the sympathetic look she had been giving Rodney.

"Could I see you over there, Colonel?" she asked with a point to a space on the other side of the Infirmary. It was framed as a question, but Sheppard had absolutely no problem hearing the demanding order in her voice.

Sheppard spared one last look to Rodney and followed Keller until they were far enough from Rodney to talk privately. She stopped and whirled around so fast that Sheppard had to hit the brakes hard to keep from running into her.

"All right, Colonel," she said as she folded her arms across her chest and fixed him with an irritated glare. "The long version, please."

Sheppard, feeling much as he did the last time he stood in front of a General and had to explain something that might have been for lack of a better word _unfortunate_, clasped his hands behind his back and stared straight ahead as he explained. "Ronon and Rodney asked if I wanted to have a drink with them. Naturally I said yes and we went to the rec room. Before Rodney could do anything he got called to go fix something and Ronon and I waited." He cleared his throat, suddenly uncomfortable under Keller's demanding gaze. "Ronon and I got talking, he started drinking and before I knew it he was passed out."

"Passed out?" asked Jennifer worriedly.

Sheppard nodded his head and held up his hand in a gesture of reassurance. "He's fine." Sheppard lowered his hand and stuck both of them in his pockets. "When Rodney came back, we got him up out of the chair he was in and carried him to his room. We stumbled over his bed and he ended up on the bed sound asleep. I fell off to one side and Rodney the other, and he hit the floor face first."

Jennifer waited for a moment and suddenly her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "What was he drinking?"

Sheppard hesitated and tried to think of an appropriately vague yet diplomatic response. "I don't think that's pertinent to Rodney's current situation."

He waited as Jennifer seemed to consider that.

"Fair enough, Colonel," she said quietly. "I'll let that slide…for now." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Ronon **is** okay?"

Sheppard smirked and said with more than a smidge of amusement, "He was snoring like a baby when we left him." He sighed and leaned in close enough to Keller so that he could talk very softly. "What about Rodney?"

She smiled at the concern in his voice. "He'll be fine. I'll run the scanner over his nose in a minute, but I'm certain it's not broken. It'll be swollen for a little while, and it'll bruise something fierce, but he'll be fine." She grunted in amusement and said, "I'm going to have to try to get him to stay out of his lab for a couple of days though. That should be interesting."

Sheppard grinned at her. "That may not be as hard as you might think." At Keller's unconvinced look Sheppard laughed and added, "Trust me, Doc…all you have to do is ask him."

"Right," she said dubiously as she skimmed past him and headed back to her patient.

"Feeling any better, Rodney?" she asked as she put her hand on his forearm.

"Not particularly," he answered, his plugged nose giving his voice a quality that was best left to animated characters and not a brilliant astrophysicist. "My head hurts."

Jennifer nodded understandingly and rubbed his arm once before calling over to Nancy. "Nancy, could you get some ibuprofen for Dr. McKay please?"

"That's it?" asked Rodney incredulously. "I don't think you understand just how much my head hurts."

"I know, Rodney," she said as she stepped aside to allow the nurse to move in and give Rodney his pills.

Rodney took the tiny paper cup with two white pills in it and the small cup of water the nurse brought in his hands and then swallowed each in rapid succession. After handing the nurse the now empty cups he looked to Keller. "It's broken, isn't it?"

Keller shook her head and patted his arm. "No, I don't think so. We'll do a scan soon and check, but I'm sure it isn't." She glanced at Sheppard and added, "But you're going to have to take it easy for a couple of days until the swelling goes down and the pain subsides."

Rodney relaxed and nodded his head as best he could.

Jennifer's head snapped up and she said, "Excuse me for a minute. I just remembered there's something I have to check on."

She walked away, pulling the curtain across to give him and Rodney some privacy as she went, and Sheppard moved over to stand next to Rodney's bed facing the way Keller had gone. He stood there for a moment, his face pointing downward and looking at nothing in particular, trying to decide whether or not he should interfere with is friend's love life. _Isn't this where I was when all of this started?_ he asked himself, remembering that the very same decision had been plaguing him when Ronon and Rodney found him on the balcony. There was no doubt in his mind that McKay and Keller were attracted to each other. After all, Jennifer fit Rodney's dream woman profile- beautiful, brilliant and blond- to the proverbial tee and it appeared that Jennifer had some feelings for Rodney, something more than friendship. Not that he would tell Rodney, but Sheppard could see why. The man was brilliant and confident in his own abilities from the start, but over the years he had become a better person and developed his own sense of bravery. The more he thought about it, the more he could curse himself for the offhanded comment of surprise he made to hologram Rodney about him and Jennifer. What was it holo-Rodney said? '_Why do you find that so surprising?' _

The truth was he didn't really. For all of Rodney's obnoxiousness and aloofness, he was a good man, a man that he was proud to have on his team and to call friend.

Again, not that he would actually tell Rodney that.

Sheppard sighed just before some movement in front of him caught his attention, causing his eyes to move up to the curtain. On the curtain he could see a silhouette looking down at what appeared to be a tablet in its hands. From the height, shape and telltale ponytail, it could only have been Keller.

And that clinched it.

"How you doing there, Rodney?" he asked. "Can I get you anything?"

"What could you possibly get me, Colonel?" asked Rodney sharply. "I'm sitting here with a broken nose and severe pain! What could you possibly get for me that would make this feel better?"

"It's not broken," reminded Sheppard as though he was talking to a five year old. "Fine, I can't get you anything." Sheppard took a deep breath and let it out slowly and took the plunge. "Rodney, what's going on with you and Keller?"

Sheppard didn't know what was funnier, the way Rodney's head turned towards him so fast that he had to reach up quickly to keep the ice pack from flying across the room, or the way that Keller's silhouetted head shot up from the tablet and turned towards the curtain separating her from them.

"What do you mean what's going on?" said Rodney after he recovered from his astonishment and repositioned the ice pack. "She's my doctor. What else would be going on?"

"I don't know, Rodney," said Sheppard as he pulled over a stool that was near the bed and sat down on it. "That's why I'm asking. You two got together in the Mess after your little misadventure on M5V-801. What happened?"

"What do you mean what happened?" asked Rodney, oblivious to the look of annoyance that washed over Sheppard's face when once again Rodney answered a question with a question. "Nothing happened. We had a drink and went our separate and merry ways."

Sheppard frowned. "That's it?"

"What else would happen?" replied Rodney, his voice uncharacteristically quiet and void of its usual bite.

"I don't know," said Sheppard with a raised eyebrow. He folded his arms across his chest and added, "A little talk, maybe. A promise of another time and another drink."

Rodney moved his hands from his sides and folded them together on his stomach. "Are you kidding? I don't know how many times I insulted her or made some sort of inappropriate comment in that mine, to say nothing about the number of times I've said something offensive under normal circumstances. I'm surprised she could even stand to be around me. I suspect the only reason she tolerates me at all is because I saved her life that day."

Sheppard frowned again at Rodney's self deprecation, but the frown turned upside down when he saw Keller's silhouette shake its head rather emphatically.

"I think you sell yourself short, Rodney," said Sheppard with some enthusiasm. "And more importantly I think you're selling her short. Give it a chance, Rodney. Ask her if she wants to get a drink with you…I guarantee she'll say yes."

"Are you sure you didn't hit your head when you fell off Ronon's bed," grumbled Rodney, "because it seems to me that you're the one that has a concussion or some other sort of brain injury."

"Rodney…"

"Look, Colonel," interrupted Rodney forcefully. He reached up and adjusted the ice pack that went slightly astray when he spoke and let his hands fall back onto the bed next to his legs. "Jenni…Dr. Keller…is, well she's everything that wouldn't be interested in someone like me."

Sheppard put his right hand over his mouth to hide the wide smile that forced its way onto his face when Keller's shadow put its right hand on its hip. He could just imagine the disbelieving and annoyed scowl that the CMO had on her face on the other side of the white curtain.

"Someone like you," Sheppard repeated through his hand. "Like what exactly?"

"Come on, Sheppard, you know what I mean." Rodney held up his hand and began counting off his points with his fingers. "One, my personality is not exactly conducive for fostering relationships, a point which you yourself have noted on more than one occasion. Two, I'm not exactly the best looking representative of the male population on Atlantis, another point which you have managed to make on several occasions. Three…you know what, my head really hurts and those are enough." Rodney let his hand fall limply to his side and sighed.

"You're wrong, Rodney," said Sheppard as he stood up. He reached over and placed his hand on Rodney's shoulder and when he spoke, he spoke softly so that Keller couldn't hear him. "You two have more in common than you think, and believe me when I say that when it comes to the two of you, anything is possible. Just give it a chance. What do you have to lose? If something comes out of it, you get a date and stop being such a jerk. If you go down in flames," he smiled and added teasingly, "it'll just be one more glorious misadventure in the rocky love life of Meredith Rodney McKay."

"Oh, hardy har har," groaned Rodney. After a moment he sighed and asked, "You really think so?"

"Have I ever steered you wrong, Rodney?" Rodney held up his finger and opened his mouth to say something so Sheppard hastily added, "And that doesn't count!" He tapped Rodney's shoulder and added, "I'll be back in a little while. I better go and fill Carter in on your situation and I want to check on Ronon."

Rodney muttered something as he walked away, causing him to laugh as he walked through the curtain. "Oh hi, Doc," said Sheppard as though he were surprised to see her there.

Keller eyed him suspiciously for a moment and then walked up to him, leaning in towards him so that she could talk low enough not to be heard by Rodney. "What was that all about, Colonel?"

"Nothing in particular," John replied casually.

She glanced to the curtain and looked back to him. "While I appreciate what you're trying to do, John," she said softly, "I think its best to let Rodney figure out what he wants on his own. He doesn't need a big broth…what's so funny?"

"Nothing," said Sheppard, though the smile on his face that for the life of him he couldn't remove gave him away. She took a deep breath and looked ready to let him have it so he whispered, "I don't know if you've noticed, Doc, but Rodney's people skills leave a lot to be desired, and it's even worse for him with women who manage to see through the shell that everyone else sees. Women like you." He leaned up against the cart that was next to him and motioned to the curtain with his head. "He a smart man, Doc, but he's beyond dense when it comes to relationships and such, and I think you know that. He's my friend, and if he needs a push to find even a little bit of happiness, I'll give it to him."

Jennifer sighed, her earlier anger gone and forgotten. "I can't argue that, I suppose." She smiled and pointed to the exit. "Go check on Ronon and make sure he's okay. If he's not, don't try to get him here, just call."

Sheppard nodded and said, "Yes, ma'am," before turning and walking away.

Jennifer smiled at his back and then turned and walked through the curtain.

Rodney was still in the same position he was in when she left. He apparently hadn't heard her come in so she just stood there watching him and remembering what he said to Sheppard. _'Dr. Keller…is, well she's everything that wouldn't be interested in someone like me.'_ She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that, but she was fairly certain that she should be insulted; he was implying that she was…what? A snob? Shallow?

'_One, my personality is not exactly conducive for fostering relationships, a point which you yourself have noted on more than one occasion.'_ That was true, but he wasn't as bad as he or a lot of people thought he was. Yes, he could be obnoxious and abrasive and sometimes spoke without thinking it through, but she found that much more preferable than men who said what they thought she wanted to hear. At least he told her the truth in his own way…that meant something to her.

'_Two, I'm not exactly the best looking representative of the male population on Atlantis.'_ She considered that far from true as well. Perhaps he wasn't the best looking man around, but he was handsome, not that that really mattered. What mattered most was what was inside. Cliché? Yes, but true. And she knew that inside he was as handsome as anyone on Atlantis. She had seen his strong will on numerous occasions when he refused to give up on something until he had it figured out or the day was saved; she saw his bravery when he experienced great personal pain to save her and Sam in that mining facility; she saw how deep his feelings ran for his friends when she saw his immense joy when Carson came back and his profound sorrow when he had to be put in stasis; and she saw his determination, as strong and fierce as Sheppard's or Ronon's, to rescue Teyla and her unborn child from Michael.

Once you realized that his attitude was nothing serious, what wasn't there to be attracted to, really?

"What did you mean when you said that I'm everything that wouldn't be interested in someone like you?" she asked before she could stop herself, and she cringed when she realized that she startled him when he nearly jumped off the table.

"You could have at least warned me you were there instead of trying to give me a heart attack!" he growled.

He was right of course, but she wasn't in the mood to be deterred. "I'm sorry," she said as she walked over and stood next to the bed. She looked over and into his eyes, barely visible above the ice pack. "My question stands however," she said. "What did you mean?"

"Nothing," he said as he looked away. "I didn't mean anything by it."

She reached over and put her hand on his shoulder. "Rodney?" When he looked back to her she said, "Tell me. Please." She saw the rapid bobbing of his Adam's apple and realizing that it was a struggle for him she smiled and said, "I promise I won't hold any of it against you."

Rodney grunted, whether in disbelief or amusement she couldn't tell.

"People, I mean women, like you, they don't usually waste time trying to, you know, be in relationships with people like me, or me in particular I suppose." He took a breath and let it out in a rush. "That's all."

"And what kind of woman am I, Rodney?" she asked as neutrally as she could manage. She really wanted to know what he thought of her.

"What kind of…you know," he said.

"No, Rodney, I don't." She lifted her hand from his shoulder and reached up to push down a piece of the ice pack that was obstructing her view of his eyes with her fingers, then resettled her hand upon his shoulder. "Do you think so little of me that…"

"What! No! That's not it at all!" he exclaimed hurriedly. "It's the exact opposite! Look, Katie is a caring and beautiful woman and I still can't believe she was interested in _me_,for crying out loud. I have trouble believing that any intelligent, funny and beautiful woman would want anything to do with me."

She smiled evilly. "So you think I'm intelligent, funny and beautiful?"

"Yes," he answered automatically, as if it should have been obvious. It took only a second to realize what he had just admitted to however, and he stammered, "What! No! What I mean is," he sighed and admitted quietly, "yes."

She leaned down until her mouth was next to his ear. "There, Rodney, was that so hard?"

He reached up and took the ice pack off his face. "Not as hard as I thought it would be, no." He swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat and said, "So, would you like to, you know, get something to eat, or something?"

"With you?" she asked, giving him a look of mock disgust. His eyes opened wide and she said quickly, "Just kidding, Rodney." She smiled and nodded as she added, "I'd love to…when you're feeling better."

He sat up carefully and with her help, turning as he did so that his legs hung over the side of the bed. "How about now?" he said, and he rubbed his stomach adding, "I'm starving."

"I thought you had a headache," she said warily.

"Hmn? Oh, Sheppard," he said as he realized what she meant, "I told him that so he'd shut up."

She couldn't help but laugh at that. "Seriously though," she said after a moment. "How are you feeling?"

"It's a little hard to breathe through my nose," he said slowly, "and it's sore. My head does hurt a little, but not as much as it did. Other than that I feel fine."

"You're not feeling any dizziness or fatigue?"

"No," he said. "Those are good signs right?"

She nodded. "It should mean you don't have a concussion."

He eased himself down off the bed, and when he was sure his feet were solidly planted on the floor he said, "Let's go then."

"You sure?" she asked with a grin.

"Are you…if you don't want to we don't…oh very funny," he said.

She looped her arm through his and said, "Come on, Rodney, though I think maybe we should get something and take it to your quarters."

He stopped suddenly and Jennifer felt herself being pulled back to him like she was connected to him by a rubber band. "What is it?"

"My place?" he squeaked. "I don't know if that's…I mean, isn't that sort of fast? We…"

Her laughter brought his rambling to an end. "Calm down, Rodney. No offence, but it isn't pretty," she said as she pointed to his discolored nose. "And I meant what I said earlier: you really need to take it easy for a few days to make sure that you're okay, which means no gallivanting around the city doing heaven knows what."

He reached up tentatively, stopping short of actually touching his nose and said, "I guess you're right." He turned to look at her. "My place it is I suppose, if you're okay with that."

Jennifer smiled and gave his arm a gentle tug. "Yes, but I think we should get you home, then I'll go to the Mess and grab us something to eat." They only advanced a step when this time she suddenly came to a halt. "I was going to do a scan of your nose to make sure it isn't fractured."

Rodney turned to her and said, "Yes you were." He hesitated for a second and came to a decision. "Do you think I need it?"

"No," Jennifer replied with a confidence that sounded unshakable. "It's not broken or fractured, just swollen and bruised."

Rodney gave her a slight nod. "That's good enough for me."

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Sheppard closed the door to Ronon's room and began walking down the familiar hallway. The big Satedan was still in the exact same position he and Rodney left him in and still snoring gently. The only difference between him now and then was that now there was a thin trail of drool running down his chin and pooling on the bed underneath his mouth.

He really didn't like his job sometimes…there were definitely some things friends shouldn't see.

He turned the corner and headed for the transporter that would take him close to the Infirmary. _Good thing I went up and checked in with Carter before checking on Ronon,_ thought Sheppard tiredly. _It's been a long day. I'll just make sure Rodney is in capable hands, which I'm sure he is, and grab a quick snack before hitting the sack._ Carter had been less than pleased upon receiving news that her head of science was out of commission for a couple of days, but even as she read him the riot act he could tell that she was less than sincere about it. Only a tyrant would have been, and Samantha Carter was many things, but a tyrant wasn't one of them.

He was just about to go into the glorified broom closet that was the transporter when he caught a glimpse of Keller walking down the hall with a tray full of food in her hands. He called up the room assignments in his head and realized that she was nowhere near her own room. In fact, she was moving away from it and heading in the general direction of Rodney's room.

He jumped behind a pillar as to not to be seen for fear of making her uncomfortable, and when he heard her footfalls fade away he stepped out from his hiding place and reached up to tap his earpiece. "Sheppard to the Infirmary."

"_Go ahead, sir."_

"Nancy, is Dr. McKay still in the Infirmary?" he asked, though he was one hundred and twenty-five percent sure that the answer was going to be no.

"_No, sir,"_ came the amused confirmation. _"He left a little while ago with Dr. Keller."_

A smile spread across his face as he said, "Thanks, Nancy. Sheppard out."

He stepped into the transporter and reached to input the Mess as his destination, but stopped in mid-reach and sighed when he realized that the gnawing in his stomach had nothing to do with hunger.

_I wonder where I can find Atkinson,_ he thought with an inward grin. _I could really use a drink._

He spared one last glance after Keller and said quietly, "Good for you, Rodney."

And if he was still smiling widely when he stepped out of the transporter near the labs a moment later, no one who saw him thought anything of it.


End file.
